Table of Contents Preface and Acknowledgments 1 Part I: History and Background The Polo Grounds: Owners and Landlords (Bill Lamb) 5 Early Polo Grounds: Players Who Homered There (Alan Cohen) 58 Next Stop--Cooperstown (Tom Edwards) 65 By the Numbers: The Five Polo Grounds Ballparks (Ron Selter) 69 Polo Grounds Seating, Dimensions and Design (John Pastier) 92 Black Baseball at the Polo Grounds 107 * Part I: Notable Players, Teams and Performances (Tom Edwards) 107 * Part II: The New York Cubans (Rory Costello) 109 The Boys of the Polo Grounds: Youth Baseball, 1944-1958 (Alan Cohen) 113 White Circled Targets Drawn in Crayon: The Untold Story Behind the Tragic Shooting of Bernard Doyle at the Polo Grounds (Dan VanDeMortel) 138 Voice of the Giants: Russ Hodges (Stew Thornley) 163 When the Circus Came to Town: The New York Mets at the Polo Grounds, 1962-1963 (Scott Ferkovich) 167 Memorable Games 175 * Metropolitans 4, Nationals 2: September 29, 1880 (Richard Hershberger) 175 * New York Giants 2, St. Louis Browns 1: October 16, 1888 (Bill Lamb) 178 * New York Giants 1, Boston Beaneaters 0 (13 innings): May 12, 1890 (Joel Rippel) 179 * New York Giants 1, Chicago Cubs 1: September 23, 1908 (Norm King) 181 * New York Giants 1, New York Yankees 0: October 13, 1921 (T.S. Flynn) 185 * American League 9, National League 7: July 10, 1934 (Stew Thornley) 188 * Boston Braves 9, New York Giants 0 (forfeit): September 26, 1942 (James Forr) 191 * Brooklyn Dodgers 5, New York Yankees 1, New York Giants 0: June 26, 1944 (Mike Huber and Rachel Hamelers) 193 * New York Giants 5, Brooklyn Dodgers 4: October 3, 1951 (Scott Ferkovich) 196 * New York Giants 5, Cleveland Indians 2 (10 innings): September 29, 1954 (Gregory Wolf) 199 * New York Mets 8, Philadelphia Phillies 6: April 28, 1962 (Alan Cohen) 202 * National League Latin Players 5, American League Latin Players 2: October 12, 1963 (Rory Costello and Robert Dominguez) 205 Part II: Memories The Polo Grounds: View from the Bleachers (Arnold Hano) 209 The Book and the Batboy (David Butwin) 213 Dr. Fan (Seth C. "Dr. Fan" Hawkins) 218 Fred Stein (Interview by Steve Treder) 222 Home Address: Polo Grounds (Jerry Schwab) 232 Saving the Polo Grounds (Tom Edwards) 235 The Polo Grounds Was My Playground (Ed Logan) 237 The Fans Remember 240 The Players Remember 251 About the Contributors 275 Bibliography 278 Index 279.